Transformation of European welfare systems:

The 16th annual conference of the ESPAnet will be held in Vilnius, hosted by the Vilnius University, Faculty of Philosophy, Institute of Sociology and Social Work. It will be an exciting opportunity to discuss the challenges, problems and future prospects of European welfare systems at a time of great political, economic and environmental uncertainties in the globalized world. For centuries, the welfare state in Europe and elsewhere has been perceived as a source of well-being, social stability, security and solidarity. New challenges such as terrorism, the refugee crisis and global warming have put additional pressures on the systems of social protection across Europe and worldwide. In the wake of all these transformations, fundamental questions still persist: Are European welfare systems resilient enough to deal with these new challenges? What does the future hold for European welfare systems? Lithuania, and its capital Vilnius, offer an excellent venue for the 16th ESPAnet conference. Lithuanian social policy system in many ways resembles the Bismarckian model, which is a fundamental base for the European social model. Vilnius has always been a multicultural city, where historically various European cultures have collided.